Toronto Blue Jays bats unload on Boston Red Sox in 14-1 rout

Going, going, smash!

BOSTON — Shortly before game time, the Toronto Blue Jays announced they acquired a right-handed bat they had long sought. Then their left-handed batters went out and celebrated against a left-handed pitcher.

And on a night when he hardly needed it, R.A. Dickey finally got some run support.

OK, massive run support. As in a nine-run sixth inning that firmed up a 14-1 win over the Red Sox and inspired repeated boos and catcalls from the Fenway faithful.

Melky Cabrera drove in five runs with two homers, one from each side of the plate. The second one cleared the Green Monster and put a bull’s eye on the windshield of an SUV. Cabrera is batting .425 with three homers, 13 RBIs and six multi-hit games since the all-star break.

“I think the all-star break did him some good, four days off to rest, because’s he’s out there (in the lineup) every day,” manager John Gibbons said. “He was tiring down, as were a lot of them. From the looks of it right now, I think the all-star break did us all some good.”

Boston beat the Jays by the same score at Rogers Centre last week before dropping three straight.

With Dickey dealing and the offence humming, the Jays continued to do exactly what their situation called for after the all-star break. Beating up on Boston was a priority and they have now done that four times in the past week. Their record since the break is 8-3.

Dickey allowed a run on three hits and piled up 10 strikeouts in seven innings, deftly changing speeds on his knuckleball. And in that sixth-inning eruption, the Jays’ five left-handed batters went 4-for-5 with two doubles and three walks against lefty reliever Felix Doubront.

The win lifted Toronto within 2½ games of the first-place Baltimore Orioles, who did not play Monday.

The Jays led 4-0 against starter Clay Buchholz entering the sixth. They sent 13 batters to the plate, collecting eight hits and three walks. Ryan Goins drove in two runs in that inning, one on a double, another on a fielder’s choice. Earlier, he had singled home two runs on his way to a four-hit night.

Danny Valencia, the right-handed hitter acquired from Kansas City earlier in the day, would surely have pinch-hit for a left-handed somebody in that inning were he in attendance. But that parade of lefty hitters did fine against Doubront.

Over his previous eight starts, the Jays had scored a total of 16 runs in support of Dickey. He went 2-6 in those games, winning 3-0 over the Angels and beating Boston 6-4 last week at home.

This time, Dickey was dominant. His “hard” knuckleball has been erratic at times this season, forcing him to focus on changing speeds, but he was able to command a variety of velocities against the Red Sox.

A classic example came in the fourth inning. Slugger David Ortiz swung and missed three knuckleballs clocked at 78, 63 and 80 mph.

Eight of Dickey’s 10 whiffs came on swinging strikes.

He said he thought two runs would have been enough. “I had that kind of knuckleball tonight,” he said.

“I’ll take that (run support) every time, that’s for sure,” he added. “I kind of wish they could divide them up over like three starts. That was fun.”

Cabrera hit his first homer, a two-run shot, batting left-handed in the first. Batting right-handed in the sixth, he sent a Doubront pitch over the Green Monster and into a windshield for a three-run blast.

Goins, sent to the minors in late April because he was batting .150, is now 9-for-27 since his return to the majors a week ago.

Before the break, catcher Josh Thole said, Toronto’s offence failed to support consistently strong work from the rotation. Thole and Dickey both observed that the team is winning now, even in the absence of three injured regulars, because it is executing the fundamentals.

“I think (Monday’s game) was kind of a microcosm of what we’ve done successfully after the break,” Dickey said. “You’re called on to advance runners with a bunt; you get that done. You’re called on to get a guy in from third base with less than you outs; you hit a fly ball; the fly ball scores a run. You’re doing the things that make good baseball players good baseball players, and we’re doing it fairly consistently.”

Almost lost in all the scoring were a key sacrifice bunt by Thole that set up Goins’ two-run single in the fourth and a sac fly by Jose Reyes that extended the lead in the sixth. And nearly all of the Jays’ hits were struck with authority as they took advantage of Buchholz and Doubront, two struggling pitchers.

Valencia is scheduled to arrive for Tuesday’s game, which also means one of those recent arrivals that Cabrera mentioned will be leaving. Dan Johnson, who had a couple of big hits against the Yankees on the weekend, may draw the short straw.

Asked about the addition of Valencia, Dickey replied: “We’re looking for pieces to the puzzle. That’s what we all are; we’re pieces in a puzzle and we’re trying to fit it all together. Hopefully, (Valencia is) a good piece. No one guy in here is going to make us (reach the playoffs). It’s got to be all of us. So whatever asset he brings to the table, hopefully, he brings it consistently and we can get a lot of worth out of it.”

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